Track Review: Lauv: Paris in the Rain

‘Leave the umbrella at home and allow yourself to get soaked by musical gorgeousness.’

Intro to Lauv: Since first breaking into the music world with his debut EP ‘Lost in the Light’ (2015), Los Angeles based Lauv has continued to release singles which harness his musicality for creating laid back pop/RnB tracks. While working on some of the best chart hits of this year, ‘No Promises’(Demi Levato/Cheat Codes) and ‘Boys’ (Charli XCX), Lauv has also released his own hit tracks with ‘I Like Me Better,’ reaching No. 17 in the UK Top 30 Indie Singles. Fast forward to now and his release of ‘Paris in the Rain’ proves that he is on track to make even bigger strides in the music industry in 2018.Featured Track: Paris in the RainOpening with descending sequences set to the ambient raindrop like sound of crackling old vinyl, the introduction to ‘Paris in the Rain’ makes for a rather dreamy start. Immediately you feel like you have been transported to back streets of the French capital where everything, and everyone, oozes coolness.

Moving through the first verse, the atmosphere of the opening is maintained and combined with equally prominent finger clicks and Lauv’s main vocal, the track takes on a more intimate sound. Alongside this, the accompaniment begins to subtly develop and as short, deep organ chords emerge, a sense of rhythm is established.

Reaching the chorus, the rhythmically sporadic nature of the track continues to be emphasised. Done in a stylish, yet understated manner, the use of high-pitched bass lines brings more than an edge of cool to the track. As this carries us towards the end of the section, the initially selective use of upright bass transforms into a full bass line. Bringing a sense of swagger to the track, you can’t imagine being any else but the back streets of, well, Paris.

Dramatically reducing in texture from where the chorus built to, the focus of the track moves to one centering on the use of empty space. Working as a trio, the combination of finger clicks, Lauv’s vocal and the high-pitched bass lines brings a new atmosphere. Cleverly tricking us towards complete silence, the continuous, mid-tempo nature of the echoing and distortion affected lyrics contrasts perfectly with the highly sparse accompaniment.

Returning to the chorus, a similar atmosphere to earlier is created. This time however, it isn’t as sparse and as it moves along, it breaks off into a more interweaving texture. Ever developing, the cool jazz elements from earlier are joined by semi-improvised drum patterns and multi-tracked vocals, and we are led to an almost soulful conclusion.